It’s great that Trion Worlds is patching Defiance, but the 360 fix is causing some new problems. As many users in the official forums have noted (and we can confirm from our own tests), the update for the game on Microsoft’s console causes some pretty significant problems.

When attempting to play the game post-patch, the following message appeared.

Trion Worlds is aware of the problem and is working to repair the patch. We’ll update when more information is available. If you haven’t yet watched the show’s premiere (which aired last night), now would be a fine time to do that.

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[Update #1] Trion has also taken the PC version down for patch-related maintenance. It seems problems are popping up on both platforms. The PS3 version of the update has not yet been rolled out.

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[Update #2] Servers for the patched platforms (PC and Xbox 360) are now back online. Be aware that many users are reporting a variety of problems. The official Defiance forums have the most current information available as Trion Worlds gets things ironed out.

Anyway, I traded for a PC code and have been playing this weekend. It's not a perfect game but there's a good amount of fun to be had. The mainline story missions are getting pretty fun, and the story is serviceable so far with a bit of mystery regarding where it will be going. Side missions are pretty bland, mostly variations on going to a spot and getting ambushed while you fetch some item. Being an MMO, it's interesting that there is never a "kill x" quest, but I think that has to do with how they work the multiplayer (more on that in a bit). There are 4 person co-op "dungeons" of a sort which are reasonably entertaining as well.

There is plenty to do between quests, time trials (driving can be a lot of fun), rampage events (like in GTA), small world events (rescue some soldiers on the road, etc.) and Ark falls, which are essentially rifts (from Trion's Rift) with guns. There are major and minor Ark falls, and even bonus rounds for minor Ark falls, just like Rifts. In a major event, you have to deal with several smaller Ark falls and then fight the big boss (pretty much just like Rift).

There's lots of achievements and they are actually worth going for because they will give you points toward leveling up or new outfits to wear. Outfits are limited to body and hat, but there seems to be quite a few of them.

Now, the criticism. The random events turn up way too much, and seem to always be the same ones in the same places. So it's like Guild Wars 2's problem with repeating events, but much worse. Ark falls will also get tiring after a while. I am not too far, so I don't know how things will change.

The game really needs a better explanation of levels and loot. I don't really get EGO level and XP, other than I get to level up my perks once in a while. There is no indication of what level the monsters you are fighting are. Guns are very odd in that you will often get loot that is not a damage upgrade but will have better reload time or other attribute. Guns have level numbers, but you can also level them by using them - not explained well at all. If you are in a quest area with another person you can do the quest together but it is unclear if monster level scales, or more monsters appear or what. Same for Ark falls - there aren't levels of Ark falls, but they might scale based on how many people are in the circle on the map. I have no idea, because the game doesn't tell you.

Inventory is handled pretty poorly. The compare method is pretty messy and you often can't compare items to anything equipped when you are shopping. Items also get stuck in inventory because they can't be sold or destroyed.

I have only played 1 round of competitive MP so far, but again, matchmaking is not explained well and I don't know if I was thrown in with people with vastly better gear or abilities than me.

So overall I am eager to move on with the story missions, but the rest of the game I'm not so sure about. I'm also curious to see how the tv show plays in, as the game takes place in California while the show is in St. Louis. Timing is also a question, since the main characters of the tv show make a cameo at the start of the game.

The secret to weapons is they have one level. Your gun can only take so much exp, and then it 'levels up'. Once it does this, you gain the bonus it lists for it, but that's it. It stops gaining exp... and YOU stop gaining exp with that weapon skill/that gun. Aka to continue leveling up your weapon skill... you need a new weapon of that type.

The real secret to weapons, is a good set of mods. You can add mod slots to any weapon, costs arkloot or whatever it is. The green stuff. Not scrip. When you're done with a weapon you've modded, use the matrix and retrieve your mods, which destroys the weapon. (do this after you have a replacement weapon, naturally).

Don't sell looted items... use the matrix and break them down into arkbits (again, the green stuff)...scrip is relatively easy to get... the secret to the game is having lots of the green stuff.

You use green stuff for things like modding weapons, and buying keycodes, which are used (with a little scrip), to buy lockboxes from the box vendor. Boxes contain items of different sorts. At least uncommon in type. Sometimes better.

PS: If you get a piece of loot that appears 'stuck'... you can't delete it, you can't recycle it, etc... it's because one of your loadouts has it listed. Once you clear the item from all of your loadouts, you'll be able to do what needs doing.

Thanks - I had read about the XP on weapons stopping at a certain point but it hadn't clicked until you explained it.

I played a lot over the weekend and got the hang of the comparison system as well as some of the other bits that aren't explained so well.

So it seems that the mobs across the game only differ slightly in HP, and even if you go back to the starting area with your upgraded weapons you are not one-shotting things. Unless there is some sort of scaling going on behind the scenes, but it's hard to know without xp numbers on the mobs. Scaling would seem unlikely since you can have different ego levels fighting the same mob.

I like that you can just work with whoever is in the area to finish a quest. At this point the servers are pretty full so it's common to wind up working on the bigger sidequests with 1-2 other players. A lot of the larger sidequests really do seem better balanced for 2-3 players. It is very easy to get overwhelmed at times and in a respawn loop just to get the the quest done. Since the death penalty is so minor you really don't wind up in a situation you can't finish, but I have run into a few frustrating quests that just shouldn't be done with one person.

I played a bit of Shadow War, which I liked better than instanced PvP, although I'm still not a big fan of MMO-style PvP where certain builds can dominate. I much prefer the co-op instances in the game.

I like that there are dailies/weeklies for those who want to do them. I doubt I will want to grind for certain weapons or titles from vendors, though. There are certain outfits I will probably try to get through pursuits, though, which mostly require doing sidequests and finding the audio logs.

I finished up the Salsulito pursuits (Moonshine Shack was a PITA - I had to respec to get it done) because I liked the look of the reward armor. After getting it I realized I already had an armor that was basically exactly the same, except the hat was blue instead of brown

I jumped into a co-op group with someone yesterday who was over 4000 EGO

Finished up the story questline. Final boss was way too long but I stuck through it. Major problem with the game is that the later sidequests in particular were not balance at all for a single player (or at least one playing an infiltrator type like my character). Lots of respawning to get things done.

Trion Worlds has announced that a new free update is now available for Defiance, adding a new game mode, eight new emergencies, two new pursuits and missions, in which you have to find a cure for a mysterious plague that's spreading its way across San Francisco.

Beginning today, you'll work towards finding a cure for the plague, across new content that includes The Plague Sieges game mode and an all-new mission series that runs from June 10th until June 17th, which also happens to be the air date for the Defiance TV episode in which word of the infectious plague reaches the town.

I find that this game is a lot like the series,as in i have seen all the season 1 TV Show and i still don't know if i like it

I have played this game for about 7-8 hrs and i still don't know if i like it

What i do like:-Lots of missions,be it Main Story missions,Episode(?) missions,side missions or just some random encounters it has a lot of stuff to do-World is a decent size for a semi MMO-I guess the graphics are okay,they do the job anyway-it's good getting to a point where i remember the situation in the series-Multiplayer(16 vs 16) wasn't terrible...yeah,i was shocked as well

What i don't like-Very little variety in missions,they just vary in situations ..kill that,download this-come across a lot of bugs(not the hellbugs kind either)which is bullshit with it being 4 months after launch-I really would like to upgrade my gear,but my gear is still the best out there(i have not changed since beginning of game)-Time trial/Horde type missions are always boring...thankfully i have just been avoiding them(guess they could be better in Co-Op)

I would comment about the number and sizes of the patches i had to download before i got to play,but because i am 4 months late to the party,i guess i can let that one slide

I may check this out. right now SyFy is selling the PC digital version for $9.99, the deluxe version is $29.99.

Anyone know if the deluxe version is worth the extra 20 bucks?

Absolutely not, IMHO. The 'loot' in the game is absolute shit and I utterly despise how you can gain 100 levels without even thinking about replacing your gun because you'll see gains on the order of 0.1% or less (yes, that tiny) per like 50 levels.

What you do need to do is once you get into the game, is to go put in the 50 codes or whatever it is because it gives you a SHITTON of bonuses that are all but needed to play. Like tons and tons of inventory space. And cool guns (that you'll use for 300 levels). And a different car.

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

What you do need to do is once you get into the game, is to go put in the 50 codes or whatever it is because it gives you a SHITTON of bonuses that are all but needed to play. Like tons and tons of inventory space. And cool guns (that you'll use for 300 levels). And a different car.

I was like 'wait, what?', then I Googled and found your 50 codes plus 116 others. thanks for mentioning them, I never would have known otherwise.

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what I did was copy and paste the web site's listing to Excel, copied the column with the codes to Notepad, then cut and pasted them to the website. I used cut instead of copy so I woudln't lose track of where I was on the list.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I made it to San Francisco last night,talk about disappointment,I was really looking forward to getting there and when i did it was a shithole,just nothing but barren lands

Remember when you played Oblivion and when the game first came out the world was great,but you had to the Oblivion parts that put you in a shitty red landscape,and you always hated it?,well thats how i feel with San Francisco

I may check this out. right now SyFy is selling the PC digital version for $9.99, the deluxe version is $29.99.

Anyone know if the deluxe version is worth the extra 20 bucks?

Absolutely not, IMHO. The 'loot' in the game is absolute shit and I utterly despise how you can gain 100 levels without even thinking about replacing your gun because you'll see gains on the order of 0.1% or less (yes, that tiny) per like 50 levels.

What you do need to do is once you get into the game, is to go put in the 50 codes or whatever it is because it gives you a SHITTON of bonuses that are all but needed to play. Like tons and tons of inventory space. And cool guns (that you'll use for 300 levels). And a different car.

played around with some of the code stuff, skill boost are probably nice but weapons seem meh.

The most important stuff is the inventory IMHO. The weapons I STILL use at level 300+ because...there's just nothing better. And I got a lucky blue chaingun or whatever out of the starter stuff that again, I still use 300 levels later. Although I do have a multi-grenade weapon that I use as a secondary more often than not (and again will use forever).

The entire game world is also the same pretty much no matter where you go. And the mobs generally aren't a threat short of the Volge, who are freakin' OP.

Is it a fun shooter? Yeah, to a point. But you'll see nothing different at level 1 verses end game.

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

Is there a better way to DL patches than going through the game portal? Because its insanely slow.

not that I've seen. I think it's due to it being a huge patch and lots of people trying to grab it. I'm getting 15mbps and it says it'll take about 90 minutes. thankfully I'm not planning on playing any time soon, just making sure I'm up to date.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay